I'm one of those lucky people who loves being a librarian. Even with all my enthusiasm for what I do, I still struggle to balance my passion for librarianship with the other things I love, like my family and friends. In this blog, I explore the challenge of achieving that elusive work-life balance amid the joys and triumphs of being a librarian in the 21st century.

Thursday, May 03, 2007

I had such high hopes for this year’s Computers in Libraries conference. Since I’m not going to be able to attend AALL or SLA, this was to be my only conference this year. Life began to conspire to keep me from my appointed rounds.

My annual presentation at Georgetown’s summer associate program fell right in the middle of CIL this year, a new twist resulting from CIL’s move from March to April. For no sane reason, I decided to completely revamp my presentation, something I should have been able to do easily had I not experienced some unexpected family commitments that cut into my prep time the weekend before CIL. At the last minute, my husband had to travel out of town for the first two days of the conference, so I had to do some child care scrambling. As if things weren’t complicated enough, a nor’easter hit DC the morning CIL opened, closing Fairfax County schools. I still made it to the conference, but in a way I never expected. I learned a very valuable lesson in balance that I plan to apply to “attend” the SLA and AALL meetings this summer.

Day One of CIL: I’m finally out the door at 1:15 after getting the kids squared away on homework and activities in lieu of today’s religious education class, also cancelled due to power loss at the church. Miraculously, there is no traffic on the GW parkway and I find “Doris Day” parking in front of the Hyatt. Once inside, I grab my registration packet and head down to the programs. They are all so crowded that I can only stand in the hallway outside the two programs I want to hear. I squeeze into the back of the last program I want to hear, but can only stay for a little while since my meter is running out and I need to get home.

Once I get home, cook dinner, do baths, read books and get the kids to sleep, I open the CIL conference website to see if I can find downloads of the programs I couldn’t see. The programs are not on the conference site, but when I go to the CIL blog, I discover that many speakers have already posted their PowerPoints on their own blogs and wikis. Hmmmm! I can pour over these presentations from the comfort of my own kitchen at a more convenient time. It’s like Tivo for a conference!

Day Two of CIL: School is back in session so the kids are off to school. My Georgetown Law students start presenting their final projects at tonight’s class so I need to put some finishing touches on our TWEN site so they can post their PowerPoint files throughout the day. I also need to do some more work on my summer associate presentation.

The minutes turn to hours, and it’s 1:30 before I know it. I need to be at Georgetown by 5:30 and, knowing how awful the traffic is on the 14th Bridge that separates CIL from GULC, I calculate that I’ll only have about 2 hours at CIL. I check the conference program and realize that there’s a 45-minute coffee break at the start of what will be my two hours. I click over to the conference blog to check on the availability of PowerPoints for the programs I want to attend. Most are up or will be up, according to the speakers’ blogs. I could spend the next few hours at home reading the presentations and testing out some new ideas, or I could spend much of that time in traffic or standing in hallways. I decide to attend CIL virtually on Day Two.

Day Three of CIL: I am determined to get a full day in at CIL, but the Georgetown summer associate program is tonight so I can’t resist a few final touches on my PowerPoint slides. After checking out my new Facebook account, an experiment inspired by a conference presentation, I head out the door for CIL. I take a quick tour of the exhibits and stop for Frank Cervone’s Cybertour of RSS Readers, and then attend several excellent programs. As the conference winds down, I dash out to get across that nasty bridge to DC in time for my Georgetown class.

Although I was only physically present at CIL for about five hours, I got quite a bit out of the programs. I did run into a few old friends in the exhibit hall, but really didn’t enjoy the serendipitous encounters that make conferences so much fun. On the other hand, I did send a few email and blog messages to speakers whose programs I enjoyed. I’m too shy to go up to the panelists at the end of real programs so this was a beneficial new experience. I even heard back from a few!

So maybe not being able to attend SLA and AALL this summer might not be worst thing. Maybe I can get something valuable by following along virtually from my laptop at home. Since CIL is a techie conference, there may have been more coverage of the programs than I’ll find with SLA and AALL, but even half of the coverage will be better than missing them altogether. I won’t get to see my old friends in person, but I can certainly send some email greetings. Just wish there were a way to share a cocktail or two. Hmm, didn’t I read something about that Second Life thing for librarians on the CIL blog? Yup, I did: http://www.infotodayblog.com/2007/04/19/libraries-enter-second-life/. Maybe that’ll be my next experiment!

A Bit About Me

I've been a law librarian for over twenty years and still get a kick out of the people I meet and the work I get to do. At the moment, I'm a Senior Consultant with Axelroth & Associates and an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law. When I'm not working, I'm balancing the daily stuff of life, like taking care of my kids, my husband, my family, my friends, my house, my Girl Scout troop, and a few other volunteer commitments. And I try to have some fun along the way.